The late Oscar Levant once observed of President Eisenhower, that "once he makes up his mind he is full of indecision" and that appears is exactly what the Holy Synod has done in regard with the contentious Bishop Nikolai of Alaska. At first the Holy Synod, many of us thought, had taken the right course with the unfortunate state of affairs in Alaska . Then, more recently, the Synod reversed itself when Nikolai became defiant in showing his contempt for the Holy Synod.

Isn't dispatching two hierarchs to investigate a hierarch akin to putting a fox in charge of the hen-house ?

I suggest that if the Holy Synod is honestly interested in transparency that they hire a couple of retired non-Orthodox FBI agents to investigate the chicanery in Alaska.

The Holy Synod has shrouded itself with a Potemkin village meant to hide undesirable or potentially damaging situations. No amount of stonewalling or disingenuous actions will persuade the faithful in the pews that Syosset is genuinely interested in openness and resolution.

It is time that the hierarchs support the victims of Bishop Nikolai's vindictiveness, Dr. Lydia Black and Fr. John Polson to name two, and defrock a truly recalcitrant bishop.